"They didn't say it, but rumors say that they collected it to make horse feed, and it is said that the horse feed made from locusts was supplied to the border army, and the horses did not lose fat after eating this thing, which was very popular."

Zhang Baoer was dumbfounded when she heard this, who came out of this, and even had a nose and eyes.

When the man saw Zhang Bao'er's appearance, he looked left and right, and said: "Some people also say that these locusts are collected and transported into the palace, and the emperor and his concubines like to eat these locusts." ”

Zhang Baoer almost didn't laugh out loud when she heard it, this rumor is really getting more and more mysterious.

"Have you eaten this locust?" Zhang Baoer couldn't help but smile and asked.

"I've secretly tasted it twice, and it doesn't seem to be delicious." Speaking of this, the man said: "It doesn't matter what it's used for, as long as they collect it, we will catch it and give it to them, and it is the most real thing to be able to exchange it for silver." ”

Zhang Baoer nodded, stopped talking, and turned to leave.

The shopkeeper's surname is Zeng, who was temporarily transferred from Chang'an by Yu Shaobai, and he has seen Zhang Baoer, so he is extremely respectful to Zhang Baoer.

"Zeng shopkeeper, how many people are there now?" Zhang Baoer asked.

"Twenty-six!"

"So much?" Zhang Baoer was taken aback.

"Originally, there were only three people in the Chen Liuzi branch, but after the locust plague, the manpower was increased one after another, most of them were drawn from the Chang'an general number and other semicolons, and after the locust plague, they had to go back!"

"Are there enough people now?" Zhang Baoer asked again.

"The semicolon is not doing anything else right now, and specializes in buying locusts. For the convenience of acquisition, the semicolon was also moved here from the city. Now all the manpower is used to collect locusts, and it is enough. ”

"How many acquisitions?"

"Forty-one thousand quintals of locusts and thirty-two thousand quintals of locusts have been purchased! Spend 11,000 taels of silver! The shopkeeper replied very neatly.

"How did the locusts come out as horse feed?" Zhang Baoer asked.

The shopkeeper Zeng whispered: "This is the rumor let out by the big shopkeeper, he said that how can anyone in the world be willing to lose money in business?" If the business collects locusts for no reason, the common people will definitely not believe it. If you make up such a nonsense, the common people will not believe it. ”

Zhang Bao'er laughed: "Your Cen shopkeeper has a good method!" ”

Shopkeeper Zeng also laughed with Zhang Baoer.

"What do you do with locusts?"

"They were all quietly pulled out and buried in the middle of the night!"

"Well done!" Zhang Bao'er patted the shoulder of the shopkeeper Zeng with satisfaction: "Before the locust plague is over, the collection of locusts cannot be stopped for a moment, don't be afraid of spending money!" ”

"I know, the big shopkeeper specially explained it before I came!" Shopkeeper Zeng nodded.

Leaving the Chenliu semicolon, on the way back to the city, Yang Xuangui couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "The method of spending money on disaster relief like Dingguo Gong is really unheard of!" How much does it cost? I'm afraid that even the imperial court can't afford it. ”

Zhang Bao'er smiled: "Compared with human life, what is silver?" ”

……

Just as Zhang Bao'er was patrolling around, Ni Ruoshui suddenly sent someone to ask Zhang Bao'er to return to Bianzhou City quickly, saying that something big had happened in Bianzhou City. Zhang Baoer read the urgent letter sent by Ni Ruoshui, and hurried back to Bianzhou without saying a word.

As soon as Zhang Bao'er returned to Bianzhou City, he came to the Thorn History Mansion, and when he saw Ni Ruoshui, he frowned and asked, "Ni Thorn History, what's going on?" ”

Ni Ruoshui told Zhang Baoer what happened with a panicked face.

It turned out that as the locust plague in Bianzhou became more and more serious, in order to relieve the disaster, Ni Ruoshui urgently reported to the imperial court, asking him to move the silver from the official treasury for emergency purposes, and then flush the account after the disaster relief funds of the imperial court arrived. After Yao Chong received Ni Ruoshui's recital, the special affairs office approved his request.

On the day that Yao Chong's book arrived in Bianzhou, Ni Ruoshui and the head catcher came to the Bianzhou treasury. The treasury was guarded by the treasurer Zhao Cheng, with twenty guards patrolling inside and outside day and night, and it was one of the safest places in the entire Bianzhou capital.

Zhao Cheng is old and steady, and he is a famous filial son in Bianzhou, and Ni Ruoshui has always respected him.

After Zhao Cheng saluted Ni Ruoshui, he led the two to the main hall, stretched out his hand and pressed a mechanism on the wall, and saw that the ground automatically cracked, revealing a deep tunnel.

Zhao Cheng lit the lantern and led the two down the steps.

The treasury is more than ten zhang deep underground, made of huge stones, and is almost isolated from the world except for a few ventilation holes that are as thick as a bowl on the ground.

When they came to the gate made of pig iron, Ni Ruoshui and Zhao Cheng each took out a key, combined the two into one, inserted the lock cylinder, and the door opened in response.

Then, Zhao Cheng lit the oil lamp in the silver vault, and rows of boxes containing silver coins were presented in front of the two.

Ni Ruoshui said to He Zhi: "He Zhutou, you and Zhao Treasury officials counted the official silver and recorded it." ”

"Yes."

He nodded and stepped forward to open a silver box, but suddenly let out a strange scream.

Ni Ruoshui and Zhao Cheng hurriedly stepped forward to check, and also screamed. There was not half a tael of silver in the chest, but a corpse was curled up inside. The three of them came back to their senses, opened all the other silver chests one after another, and found that half of the silver in the silver vault was missing, and a total of 100,000 taels of silver were missing.

After a while, Ni Ruoshui settled down and took the oil lamp to inspect the corpse.

The deceased was about fifty years old, with a painful expression, because of the large amount of charcoal and lime piled up in the silver vault, which was equivalent to a drying agent, and the body showed no signs of decomposition, but it was difficult to judge how long he had been dead, and because the body was curled up in the box and was already stiff, it was impossible to check whether there were any wounds on the body for a while.

Ni Ruoshui ordered He Zhi to go to the post-mortem for an autopsy, and then he said to Zhao Cheng: "Treasurer Zhao, I have a few words to ask you." ”

Zhao Cheng was already stunned, and when he heard Ni Ruoshui calling him, he suddenly let out a strange scream, followed by a few steps, hit his head against the wall, and fell to the ground without snorting. Ni Ruoshui and He Zhi were taken aback, and before they could react, Zhao Cheng, who was lying on the ground, suddenly staggered up again.

He didn't rush up and hold him up, shouting: "Treasurer Zhao, you ......"

Zhao Cheng looked at him stunned, and said with a smile: "Why are you holding me?" ”

As he spoke, he wanted to push it away, but where could he push it away, Zhao Cheng grinned and cried loudly.

Ni Ruoshui stepped forward to check, and saw that Zhao Cheng's eyes were dull and his pulse was chaotic, could it be that the collision just now caused him to have a problem in his brain?

Ni Ruoshui ordered him to take him up and ask Lang Zhong to treat him. Soon, the results of Lang Zhong's diagnosis and treatment came out, and Zhao Cheng was indeed mentally disturbed due to a severe cranial contribution.

Not to mention the judgment, the theft of the treasury silver must have been stolen by Zhao Cheng's guards, and as for his desire to commit suicide by hitting the wall, of course, he wanted to escape responsibility.

Ni Ruoshui felt that it was not so simple, the county government sent the official silver to the state government on the fifteenth of each month, and the state government sent the official silver to Chang'an every March, and the last time Bianzhou sent away the official silver was in February, and the silver treasury was empty in that month, and the official money from all over the country was sent to March, that is to say, the theft of the silver treasury should have occurred in March and April. The Bianzhou silver treasury was heavily guarded, and the key was kept by him and Zhao Cheng separately, and it was only handed over to Zhao Cheng on the 15th, and the key would be taken back after the official silver was put into the warehouse. Zhao Chengyi, a scholar, how could he hide the eyes of so many people and steal an average of 50,000 silver per month? Besides, if you want to steal, why do you want to keep half of it?